Improvement in breech-loading ordnance



'Artnr trice.

WILLIAM s'row, or

lMPROVEll/l ENT IN BREEC Urrea, New YORK.

H-LOADING ORDNANCE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,036, dated July 29, 1869.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, VILLIAM STOW, of Utica,in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Ordnance, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in wliich Figure 1 is a side view of mounted fieldpiece constructed according to my invention, one of its wheels being omitted to expose the gun and carriage more fully to view. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 isa centrallongitudinal section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several gures.

This invention relates to the construction of a'breech-loading gun with its barrel or body open throughout and movable in such manner relatively to a fixed breech-piece that its rear orifice may be presented above such breech to permit the insertion of the projectile and cartridge in a forward direction.

It consists in a certain construction of the carriage for the support of thebreech and the barrel or body of the gun, also, in a certain mode of combining` the barrel or body of the gun with the carriage, whereby its rear end is made to move away from the breech as it moves upward therefrom; also, in certain means of moving the barrel from and to the breech-piece for loading and firing; and, further, in certain means of securing the barrel or body during the discharge of the gun.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The principal portion of the carriage consists of two side pieces, A A, a cross-piece,A, the main axle B, and the trail-piece C, all of which are rigidly secured together; and another portion consists of two parallel side pieces D D, connected by the fixed breechpiece E, the said side pieces having journalboxes c a fitted to journals on the axle B, and moving on the said axle, as upon the ordinary trunnions, in the adjustment of the elevation of the gun, which is effected by means of a screw, F, connected bya pin-joint, b, with the rear of the breech-piece E, and working through a nut, 4Gr, which is prevented from moving vertically by being fitted within a slot, c, Fig. 3, in the cross-piece A. By turning the said nut the screw is moved upward or downward, as maybe desired, and with it the breech-piece E, and the body H of the gun when in contact with the breech moves with it. The body H is bored throughout and counterbored from the rear, as shown at c in Fig. 1, to a sufficient caliber and depth for the reception of the tube I, of brass or other metal, which receives the cartridge and the projectile, and which is closed at the rear and made with a broad iiat iiange, d, the thickness of which is suffi cient to fill a space which is left between the rear end,g,of the body and the face h of the fixed breech-piece, both of which are made flat, that the said flange may fit them closely, as shown in Fig. 3. Several of these tubes may be provided, that a loaded one may be in readiness to be inserted in the body H to take the place of one which has been discharged. The vent c is made in the breech-piece E, and a corresponding vent, e', is made in the base of the tube I. The body H has cast with it or otherwise rigidly attached to it trunnions ff, which are fitted to bearings t' t', provided for them in or upon the side pieces D D, but only swings upon these trunnions to open and close the breech.

To enable every part of the face g of the rear muzzle to move away from the face h of the fixed breech-piece E, the ltrunnions f f have their axis lower than` the bottom of the face g.

J is a lever for moving the body H to open and close the breech, arranged to work at one side of the gun on a fulcrum-pin, j, secured to one of the side piecesD D. This lever is connected with the body H by a short link, k.

K is a spring-catch secured to the xed breech E or to one of the side pieces D D for holding down the lever J, and so holding down the body H, and securing the breech in a closed condition. Vhen the breech is closed, the body H rests in a seat, m, below the breechpiece. This catch is furnished with a handle, K, by which it may be pushed off the lever to liberate the latter preparatory to the opening of the breech.

l Z are lugs formed on the sides of the body H, and fitting to notches formed in the side pieces, D D, for the purpose of locking the body and breech-piece securely together in the direction of the bore While the piece is being fired. The link 7c is connected With one of these lugs.

The operation of loading is effected in the lfollowing manner: The spring-catch K is -xed breech-piece E, and the body is then brought downto theseat m by pressingfdown the lever J, the spring-'catch K moving aside to let the lever pass it, and then springing back over the said lever to lock it, and so look the body in its place. During the firing the joint between the body H and breechpiece E is made tight by the closed rear end of the tube I. -After iiring, the breech is opened again, as above mentioned, and the empty tube I Withdrawmeither by hand or by a-suitable implement, and a loaded tube'put in its place, after which the body is brought down into its place to close the breech, as be- 4fore described. In this Way the iiring'may be repeated very rapidly.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The carriage composed of the rigidly-connected side pieces A A crosspiece A, axle B, and trail-piece C, and the side pieces D D swinging on the axle and carrying the breech-y piece E, substantially as herein described.

2. The lever J and catch K, applied in combination with each other and with the body H, and` portion of the carriage to Which the Xed breech-piece issecured', substantially as 'her'e-V in specified.

3. Securing the swinging body H to the fixed breech-piece E during the discharge of the gun by means of lugs Z Z on the body, andV .notches for their reception in the parts D D ofthe carriage, to which the breech-piece is lrigidly secured, substantially as herein described.

WILL-IAM STOW. Witnesses:

' VDEXTER GiLLMoRE,

M. GAFFNEY. 

